Monday, December 05, 2005


sydney time

various weather websites inform me that it's snowing today and tomorrow in nyc, whereas i'm forced to report that here in sydney it's a lovely 90 degrees with low humidity and a brilliant sun that dances in gilt sparkles off the emerald waters of the bay.

have i mentioned recently that i love australia? i absolutely don't understand why the word isn't completely out about oz yet: as i keep saying, it's everything you like about california but better.

only a couple of small cultural issues, like the time thing, and that constant translating from english to english. . .

having been given a list of supposedly the top 6 yoga studios in sydney, before i left new york i diligently printed out their schedules from the awesome find yoga. however, not only are these schedules a bit off by a class or two -- not so bad, i guess -- i also keep running into the laid-back sydney lifestyle.

of course in nyc time is all: how dare you not keep your website up-to-date with your newest classes? what do you mean you closed early and just went to the beach?

how could you advertise a class and not hold it? and by the way, why are you lolly-gagging on the sidewalk?

(once you adapt to the sydney sidewalk etiquette -- there is one, and it is different than the free-for-all, parking's-for-the-driveway-so-shift-that-rear-in-gear-now! nyc one -- you will also realize that sydneysiders walk slowly by nyc standards. . .i'm racing down the sidewalk still in comparison and have to remind myself to ease off lest i'm mistaken for an ambulance or bodyslam some innocent banker downtown. . .)

in nyc, yoga classes are crowded and you have to go early to stand in line, get a decent spot not too close to a wall, set up your props before all the blocks are taken, etc. etc. here people straggle in, classes start late and end early (sydney yoga classes tend to be only about an 50-60 mins. long, unlike the 1-1/2, 1-3/4 or even 2 hrs. i'm used to in new york), and the pace is more relaxed generally with more gentle poses.

thus this afternoon i go to city apothecary, where a 3:45pm vinyasa class with a famous teacher was recommended to me. but alas, said teacher has left for india until the new year, the class is cancelled, and of course it's still on the website. sigh.

since i made my dinner plans around this class, i guess i'm not doing any yoga today! aarrgggh!

the sweet yogini at the desk consoled me: "well, mark who teaches yoga to the aussie olympic team is doing a led ashtanga tomorrow at the same time."

but what about today? i wanted to sob. oh well, mark the olympic trainer tomorrow and then i guess the jivamukti 2-hour workshop on thursday back at samadhi bliss in newtown.

even my ultra-spoiled self has to admit this is hardly a form of deprivation. . .

i suppose this frees me for the rest of this afternoon before i finally catch up with awesome aussie barista judge paul haddon for a quick malaysian dinner.

and in that amount of time i suppose i could make it to the new lindt concept chocolate store. . .

this still leaves me however with several important questions for my aussie readers: what really is the best king island blue cheese? i've already discovered that they make the most amazing, naturally sweet and thick yogurt ever.

really, it's almost gelato-thick. . .

also, which is the best domestic aussie soft fresh goat cheese? my expedition to david jones foodhall yesterday left me with several nice cheeses, which i snacked down with some handmade fig-and-walnut wholemeal bread from brasserie.

(note: aussie wholemeal bread doesn't seem exactly like u.s. whole wheat bread, since the flour seems to have a slightly different composition. . .i'm afraid i have to report it too is better. . .)

and finally, lest you gentle readers think i'm slacking off on my coffee-tasting and regional coffee culture duties, i did get to toby's today before checking out the mca. based on one cappuccino, i must say that i think campos is the superior shop so far!

however, it was a busy bar in woolloomooloo and i suppose i owe it to myself to check back at a less slammed moment. . .the shop itself is fun & funky.

as for the mca itself, i wasn't thrilled by most of the po-mo, photography-based, neo-conceptual exhibits featured now. however, i did enjoy a couple of light sculptures from the 60s, which alas they don't mention on their website.

posted by fortune | 8:55 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 3 comments